She Was There
by filesfreak4life
Summary: He still couldn't beleive that she was there... the past two years thinking that she had moved on... Leyton Oneshot around 5X02


"I was there Lucas... and I was so proud of you." she says and his heart falls into his stomach, not knowing what to do with that information. "But we hadn't talked in a long time, and I... I saw you with Lindsey, and I figured you guys were together, which clearly you are..."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, he let his head tilt back and a sigh of disbelief made its way out of his parted lips. The smile that grazed his lips was him laughing at fate, how cruel it could be, and how much he had wished that day in Los Angeles had gone differently.

"...I like her... I do. But, do you remember when you first joined the Ravens and you took all my sketches over to THUD without asking? And do you remember what you said that night when you entered the gym for the first time?"

Of course he did. He remembered every moment that they had ever had together, and that was one of his top ten. "Your art matters. It's what got me here," he says, with a face so straight that he had hoped she didn't know that he was trying to hold back the emotions that he felt.

On a breath, she whispered "yeah", hearing him speak those words that had meant so much to her all over again. "It's like you touched my soul."

Then it was nearly too hard to look at her, seeing the memories flood through her as much as they were effecting him. "And... a few days ago, I was ready to quit again, but you saved me... with the words you wrote about me in your novel. So, if you're struggling to write the next one... you should know... that your art matters Lucas."

He let out a shaky breath, hoping that she didn't see it as he covered it by nodding, acknowledging the meaning behind what she was saying.

"It's what got me here."

He doesn't say anything, just looks around the room once, and tells her with his eyes to consider what he was offering to her. Then... he walks out of the space and out of TRIC.

He found himself on Haley's doorstep, knowing that she and Nathan were still having problems, but also knowing that if anyone would know what to do with this information, it would be Haley. So... he knocked, knocking more loudly until she opened the door to him.

"Lucas, What's --"

"She was there." he says, as if saying it out loud made it more real than when she had admitted it to him earlier.

"What? Who?"

"Peyton."

"Lucas..."

"No, Haley... she was there in LA, she was at the book signing."

"Then why didn't she say anything earlier."

"She saw me and Lindsey together and thought that we were together. She saw that first kiss Lindsey gave me."

"Wow."

"Wow?! That's all you can say to that, Haley? You're my best friend, you know what that day meant to me. You know that is the only reason why I even let myself consider dating anyone. I thought she had moved on. I thought that she was done with it... but she was there."

"Lucas, how did this even come up?"

"It's me and Peyton, Haley, how does anything come up... we were just talking. I was giving her the space that my mom had suggested."

"You're helping her start the label?"

"Why do you sound surprised by that?"

"I'm not, but I'm pretty sure that Lindsey is going to be... Lucas did you think about that?"

If he was being honest with himself and everyone else, he would admit that since that night on the river court, he hadn't thought of anyone but Peyton Sawyer, the girl who had stolen his heart long before Lindsey Strauss had walked into his life. If he was being honest, even if he did think of her, he wouldn't have cared what her opinion was... it was Peyton. Of course he was going to help her.

"I..."

"Lindsey has become my friend, Lucas, you can't do this to her."

"Haley, this changes everything, and you know it. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, Lucas, and I can't tell you what to do."

"Haley James, you have been my best friend for as long as I can remember, so I'm not taking that cop out from you."

She thought for a moment, really considering what was going on here, and finally told him that she would think about it.

He stood up from his spot on the front step that he had taken when he came to the door and started to walk to his car when she called out to him.

"Lucas?"

He turns to face her, partially expecting an answer from her.

"Do you love her?"

"What did I tell you when I was in eighth grade?"

She thought about it for a minute when six words floated through her head and the realization of his past words gave her the answer.

"It's still the dream, and I don't think I ever really let that go." he says, after knowing that she understood what he had meant when he told her to think back to eighth grade.

She knew Lucas. She knew Peyton. She just didn't know how to approach this whole Lucas and Peyton thing now that it had gone away for a few years. That didn't stop her from thinking about it though... remembering the night when Lucas called her from Los Angeles after the signing, practically in tears because he knew that it was over. She remembered the day he finally talked to her, calling her an angel, and still refusing to admit that she was just a girl. She remembered reading the novel that was written by her best friend when they were just in high school and the words that he had written about the same girl that she still hadn't been able to convince Lucas to think of as a girl.

And then she picked up the phone.

That is what led him to where he was at that moment, standing in front of a door that was unfamiliar to him, and not knowing how to approach the situation that was laid out before him.

Haley told him to jump. Whatever he was feeling he needed to do, which he already had known, but needed the confirmation.

He didn't want to knock. He didn't want to ring the doorbell. This was Brooke's new home, which meant that it wasn't just Peyton that he would open the door to, it was Brooke. Brooke Davis knew the situation very well. She had come between them a time or two before, and now that they were older, she knew that there was no one else for him. Of course, being protective of her best friend, he also knew that if he came to their door and she heard him confessing his love, she probably would have kicked his ass.

That thought caused him to falter for a moment, wondering if it really was such a good idea to be here at such a late hour, with all these thoughts racing around in his head. He needed a sign.

It was then, sitting down on the porch with his head resting in his hands that he turned and saw the glass doors leading to the porch still open, with white curtains billowing out from the summer breeze.

She knew that it was him. It was like an automatic alert went off in her head when she heard the door creak a bit and the soft footfalls across the hardwood floor.

It didn't even surprise him when she sat up in bed, pulling the sheets up with her and spoke softly into the night, "Why'd you come?"

"Because you were there..." he says, shrugging his shoulder and moving to sit on the edge of the bed, looking into her eyes, noticing how the moon cast shadows across the bed linens and allowed her eyes to sparkle just a little bit.

She furrowed her brow at the comment, not understanding what he meant, "I was...?"

"At the book signing in Los Angeles... you were there."

She nodded her head, looking down and not wanting to meet his eyes again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks.

"Because you had moved on." she said simply, with a sadness to her tone.

He laughs at this, again, not believing that fate could be like this.

"So you're laughing at me now? Lucas, I walked away from that damn book store in tears." she says, getting angry that he could cast aside what she had been feeling so easily.

"Peyton, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at us." he says, taking her hands in his. "I wasn't with Lindsey then... I know what you saw. She and I didn't start dating until a week later."

"Well, then you were clearly on that path."

"Because I didn't think you came. I thought you had moved on."

"What?" she says, her eyes widening.

"I called Haley that night, nearly in tears that you never showed. After all we had been through, after being the one who supported me through everything... you didn't come."

"Lucas...I--"

"No... let me finish... I was heart broken, Peyton. I know that I screwed up, and it took me this long to realize it, and I'm sorry for that. But that day that I called you and told you that I was going to be in LA for a book signing, my hope came back. Maybe I didn't screw up entirely. Maybe I would get the chance to really ask you again. Maybe I wasn't going crazy to think that we still had what we did. You told me that you wouldn't miss it, and then I looked out onto lines of people and not a curly haired blond among them. I gave up that day, knowing that you had given up on us."

"God, Luke, I never gave up on us... I never gave up on you. I could never give up on you. Then I saw you with her and she kissed you and then I knew that you were over me. You're with her, it can't matter now."

"I'm not, and it does." he says calmly after she said her piece, "After I talked to you at TRIC I went to Haley's. She knew what had happened all those years ago, so I knew that if anyone would know what to do, it would be Haley."

"And...?" she asks, not clearly knowing what to do on her side of things either.

"After I told her what had happened, she only asked me one question." he starts and then continues when she raises an eyebrow, "She asked me if I love you. Not past tense, but right now in this moment."

She let out a shaky breath that she had been holding in this whole time, silently begging for him to say those three words that she had missed so much.

"I told her to think back to eighth grade."

Peyton laughs a little, completely confused, "What?"

"Our predictions... In eighth grade, mine was 'Peyton Sawyer will become Peyton Scott'. Of course she remembered that, and then I told her that had always been the dream and still was."

"Luke."

"I knew then that I couldn't go on living a lie, so I went home to Lindsey and calmly told her that this wasn't working."

Now it was her turn to let the tears come to her eyes, knowing what was coming next. "I'm sorry."

He shakes his head at her apology, "No... You don't have to be sorry. She knew. I had been distracted since you came home, and... God Peyt, she edited a book that was practically a love letter to you. She told me that she had been waiting for the day that you would come to your senses."

"Come to _my _senses?"

"Why did you come home Peyton?"

"Because I was tired of LA, because I needed a change of pace."

"Yeah, that's what you've told everyone. They buy it, but we both know that isn't why you came back."

"Lucas, we can't do this." she says, standing up from the bed and starting to pace before he joins her and grabs onto her shoulders to steady her.

"Why?"

"Because you're you and I'm me. It never works out." she says, shrugging, and wanting to believe what she just said and also wanting to believe that it was not true.

"That's why it will work."

"Brooke, Jake, Nikki, Los Angeles, Marriage Proposals, Lindsey... you don't think that those are enough signs for us to stop looking to each other?"

"Nope."

She smiles at the confident way he said that, laughing quietly to herself, "And why is that?"

"Because if you recall, after every single one of those things we ended up together... Maybe one of these times it will stick."

"You left her?"

"I love _you_ Peyton, I can't love her. You're the only one who's supposed to wear the ring tucked into the back of my top drawer. You've always been the only one."

"Slow."

"What do you mean?"

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do this slowly."

He nods, a smile on his face.

Six hours later, Brooke found them, legs intertwined and clothing strewn about as she lay on his chest and he has an arm wrapped around her middle. It's Lucas and Peyton, they couldn't do slow if their lives depended on it.

An hour after that, Peyton was waking up in the arms of the man that she fell in love with when she was sixteen. He was everything to her, and it seemed like life was in the way every time they even thought about getting it together. The thoughts ran through her head, finally settling on the major one. What was stopping it from falling apart now?

"Please don't tell me that you regret it." he says, knowing for how her breathing had changed that she was finally awake.

"I don't." she replies simply, placing her hand on his chest before looking up to meet his eyes.

"Then..."

"What is stopping it from all falling apart now, Luke? What is going to secure that we are each other's forever? I know that you said we end up together always, but maybe I don't want to have to deal with another part where we're trying to get back to each other."

He slowly sits up, letting her body slide off his, reaching for his boxers and the rest of his clothing without saying a word to her. Then, as quietly as he came into her room the night before, he walked over, kissed her sweetly on the lips and made his way out of the room and out of the house.

She didn't know what to think. They could always speak without words and that kiss told her that this wasn't the end, in fact it was far from it. But, she still didn't understand why he had left.

Letting out a puff of air, she fell back into the bed that still smelled like him... like them really.

That was of course when Brook showed her face, "So, he didn't run out of here and you aren't in tears, so I'm assuming last night wasn't a drunken mistake made consensually by the two of you?"

"He broke up with her."

"With Lindsey?"

She nods, with a smile on her face, "They weren't together in LA at the book signing... it was some horribly horrible cosmic joke that I even saw her kiss him."

"Peyton..."

"He never knew I was there that day, and I told him yesterday. He's been struggling to write a new novel, and I just told him that all the things that he has written matter, what he does matters, and it is what moves me."

"So you kept it light then..." Brooke says sarcastically.

She laughs at that, knowing exactly where this was coming from.

"P. Sawyer, you and Lucas have never been the surface kind of people that every normal person on this planet is. You can't ever tell him that you like his book without it meaning so much more. He can't ever touch your hand without the two of you having an hour long conversation with your eyes. It was just a matter of time til you both came to your senses."

"But..."

"Oh NO, you are NOT going to give this situation a but. You love him, and though you've told me that you didn't come back for him, I know DAMN well that you did. The two of you are written in the stars, and there is nothing wrong with that. So, when that boy comes back, no matter what happens, you just need to jump, Peyton. Jump into it with arms wide open and don't run away again."

There was a reason why this woman was her best friend, and it was moments like these that just solidified her choice. What she said had made all the sense in the world to her, and she knew that no matter where he was, she needed to find Lucas Scott.

"I have to go find him!" she says quickly, shooting out of bed searching for something to throw on.

"Chances are he's probably trying to find the closest twenty four hour, seven days a week, wedding chapel." Brooke mutters under her breath, but clearly loud enough for Peyton to hear it.

"Brooke, you are so not helping."

"I'm so right, and you better say yes."

After pulling her jeans on, she hugs her friend and gets into her car and drives, as fast as humanly possible over to Lucas' house.

He's there of course, seemingly tearing apart his bedroom in search of something, and jumps when she comes into his bedroom.

"What are you looking for?"

"I found it really, but I wanted to... it doesn't matter. I will find it later."

"So, where is the nearest wedding chapel?" she asks casually.

"WHAT? Are you..."

"No, I'm just.... Brooke was joking around, saying that is probably where you ran off to, without a word an hour ago."

"Don't think that the thought didn't cross my mind to find out when the next flight to Vegas was."

"Lucas..."

"Peyton, don't do this. Don't pull away. Don't doubt us. Don't run. I love you."

"I know, and I'm not going to run, unless it's to you, because I'm done with that. I want to jump Lucas, I want to jump with you and I want to be there with you. I just want _you_."

This was his opening, he knew it, but he knew that she had no clue what was about to transpire that afternoon.

"Well, aren't you going to ask me what I left for?"

"I figured that you'd tell me on your own."

"That's what you want?"

She nods, figuring that he just needed a moment to process, like he and she often did. They were the same in that way, and she had mentioned that to him on more than one occasion over the years.

"Okay." he says, gesturing for her to sit on the end of the bed, as he moves the dresser set in the corner, opening up the top drawer.

Her eyes go wide then, knowing exactly what it is that he came for, and as she sees the small box in his hand, she has a moment of panic cross her. That was until she looked into his eyes. His eyes that told her that he loved her so much and that he was scared shitless that she was going to tell him that she wanted to wait again. Those same eyes told her that he would wait if she asked this time too.

"I know that this is the most sudden thing in the history of the world... but..."

"We've been years in the making Lucas Scott, or so we've been told."

"Marry me?"

"Where's my speech?" she asks, a smile tugging at her lips as she looks down at him on one knee on the floor.

"Do you need one?"

"Do you have one?"

"Peyton, I could fill novels and novels with all of the things that I wish I could tell you, you know that."

"I don't need one, _you_ know _that_."

"So..."

"Yes."

"Really?"

"I love you Lucas Scott, I don't need anything else."

And so that was the story of how, in the span of about 72 hours, Peyton Sawyer moved home, Lucas Scott dumped his girlfriend, realizations were had by all, and Peyton Sawyer was well on her way to becoming Peyton Scott.

That was ten years ago.

Now we see that true love really does conquer all, and fate and destiny have a role in all of it. Which is not to say that there weren't just roses for Lucas and Peyton Scott, because there were hard times.

They had just welcomed their first child into the world, Katie Brooke Scott, into the world when Lucas had his second heart attack, which he survived, but barely.

They survived a heart transplant and all that entailed just two years after that, and upon recovery started on baby Scott two, Anna Sawyer Scott, who was born four years after her big sister.

No one ever questioned the two of them getting married just a week after finally realizing that they needed to be together. In fact Brooke had half of the wedding planned by the time Peyton came home with Karen's ring on her finger, simply telling her best friend that she already had it all planned out anyways.

They jumped and jumped often, seizing opportunities that made Peyton's label grow and Lucas' novels more successful than either could have imagined.

Their only regret... is not knowing what would have happened if he had known she was there.

–

Okay folks, random one shot that I was inspired to make from another author's writing. And I'm going to admit this to y'all and no one else. I have been pretty okay with season 7 thus far, and I'm obviously a HUGE Leyton fan. I gave it a try and I have been pleasantly surprised ever since doing so, until a few days ago. I realized that I hadn't watched any old OTH since the start of this new season. BIG mistake watching some old Leyton scenes, cause now, I miss them. However, I'm still going to watch and scream and enjoy it. But I'm telling you what... I'm sooooooo glad that there is fanfic.

Read and Review... Let me know what you thought of my cute little oneshot!


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